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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24770185">see, i'm so sweet</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/fraternize/pseuds/fraternize'>fraternize</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>sweeter than sweet [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Bakery, First Meetings, Fluff and Humor, M/M, and theyre 6 years old, soobin is overdramatic, sookai are brothers, tyunning are best friends, yeonjun works in a bakery</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 07:46:49</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,722</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24770185</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/fraternize/pseuds/fraternize</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Why would I give you free food?”</p><p>“Because today is my birthday?” Soobin tried not-so-confidently, watching Yeonjun raise his eyebrows in surprise. "Okay, I lied, it's not. Please spare me. I didn't practice for this conversation."</p><p>A silence followed. Then suddenly, Yeonjun burst out laughing.</p><p>"You're funny. I like that."</p><p> </p><p>  <i>please i just want to eat bread</i></p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Choi Soobin/Choi Yeonjun</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>sweeter than sweet [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1791385</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>122</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>see, i'm so sweet</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachtones/gifts">peachtones</a>, <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/jjunicore/gifts">jjunicore</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>+ i started writing this in january and didn't bother changing their hair colors to their current ones (blue haired yeonjun, blonde haired beomgyu and black haired soobin remain their best hair colors anyway)<br/>+ i have no idea how much a pastry is worth in korea so i made them cheap because i'm against capitalism<br/>+ the title is a lyric from pied piper by bts!!<br/>+ this is dedicated to rey, lau and lisa who have been seeing me rant about this fic for way too long &lt;3</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was not <em>that</em> complicated. Soobin had rehearsed this scenario eight times on his way to the bakery already.</p><p>Step inside, walk to the counter, greet the employee, ask them which bread they recommend, pay, wait for the order to be ready, then go back home.</p><p>
  <em>Pretty easy, right?</em>
</p><p>In theory, it was. Yet, when Soobin stepped inside the bakery, chest puffed to make himself look naturally assured, his initial plans were quickly forgotten. And he knew he should have practiced more, that he had been too ambitious believing eight repetitions would be enough, especially when he usually practiced at least twenty times just to make sure every single step was engraved inside his brain. It was inevitable that his plans would go wrong with so little preparation. After all, the scenario where Soobin messed up his words whenever he had an encounter with a stranger seemed to be the only one he was capable of following without any practice.</p><p>He guessed that was what he deserved for trusting Beomgyu.</p><p><em>You should go to Juni's</em>, he said. <em>They make the best pastries in the whole town</em>, he said. <em>And the staff is really nice, you won't feel uncomfortable at all</em>, he said. <em>Well</em>, Soobin should've known after years of traumatic swimming classes that he couldn't trust anyone in this world. Because each time he trusted someone, he ended up almost drowning. Or dying. Which was pretty much the same considering Soobin couldn't swim to save is life; unless he had enough stamina to do the doggy paddle for longer than thirty seconds. And even that way, he looked like he was having a wrestling match against the water anyway.</p><p>(And Soobin wasn't the wrestling champion he wished he was. The only thing he had in common with wrestlers was that he was sweating a bit too much all the time. It was pretty pitiful by the way, how Soobin’s life constantly revolved around the dangers of being submerged in liquids. Diving in water but almost failing to go back to the surface. Sinking in his own sweat every single day—)</p><p>“Welcome to Juni's, my name is Yeonjun. How can I help you today?”</p><p>(Drowning in people’s eyes, even.)</p><p>Even if eyes weren’t <em>technically</em> liquids. But Soobin was capable of achieving the impossible to embarrass himself.</p><p>“Hi,” Soobin blurted out with the remaining atoms of oxygen in his lungs. It was clearly obvious that he was out of breath – and that his brain was misfunctioning – because the employee, whose name was apparently Yeonjun, cracked a smile as soon as Soobin opened his mouth. And most of the time, whenever someone looked at him with an amused expression, it was either because he had embarrassed himself, or because they were picking on him. Soobin knew it was never in a mean way though; that he just happened to be the type of person to be teased easily. This type of reaction wasn’t new to him.</p><p>But if it wasn’t new, why was he feeling so uneasy?</p><p>Maybe because Yeonjun’s smile was everything but mocking. It was warm and compassionate with a dust of patience, something Soobin rarely saw whenever he found himself messing up his orders. It radiated the same feeling as a hot cocoa in winter, receiving a hug, petting a dog, and, <em>well</em>, falling in love, <em>maybe</em>.</p><p>Or maybe Yeonjun’s smile was just pretty.</p><p>(Pretty beautiful, pretty comforting, pretty heart-fluttering, pretty devastating, and so on.)</p><p>But that didn’t necessarily mean anything,<em> right?</em></p><p>Soobin was simply seeing the obvious, acknowledging his beauty. That didn’t mean he was catching feelings or that he wanted to meet Yeonjun again in the future. Even if he didn’t mind coming back here at all if the pastries were good. After all, Soobin’s only goal was to stuff his stomach with sweet, sugary, tooth-aching pastries, and if his favorite ones happened to be found where Yeonjun was working, then he wouldn’t stop himself from visiting. He would even go there if the pastries weren’t his favorites because pastries were pastries at the end of the day, plus he didn’t think anything about Yeonjun besides the fact that he was good-looking, so he didn’t have any reason to avoid him. And to simply prove his point, Soobin decided he was going to visit this place again next time.</p><p>He was sure he would never get a crush on Yeonjun. Seeing the latter was just a plus, a complement to the order. The little biscuit next to his cup of coffee.</p><p>(Or the cherry on top, the icing on the cake. But platonically, of course.)</p><p>
  <em>oh gosh. what was the next step again?</em>
</p><p>“I, um,” Soobin continued, after probably ten long seconds of silence. He broke the eye contact with Yeonjun to look at the menu hung on the wall to distract himself from Yeonjun’s soft stare, and from the huge possibility that he had been caught red-handed staring at him. He tried reading the words on the menu, but his mind didn’t seem to cooperate at all, as he could only see a mess of letters and numbers and drawings all over the place. Soobin sighed, his initially-puffed-with-confidence chest deflating all at once, leaving him defeated and miserable.</p><p>“I was uh,” <em>at this point, just</em> <em>say the first thing that comes to your head, soobin. what else do you have to lose? </em></p><p>“I was wondering if you sold bread?”<br/>
<br/>
<em>wait, no. unthink. who would even ask that?</em></p><p>Soobin flinched, opening his mouth instinctively to apologize, but Yeonjun spoke before the slightest sound went past his lips.</p><p>“We do,” Yeonjun acquiesced with a cotton-like voice, soft and warm and non-malicious and maybe – just maybe – Soobin was being a little bit dramatic. As their eyes met for a second time, genuine smiles appeared on both of their faces and for the first time in a while, Soobin felt the pressure of social interactions with strangers dissipate into thin air. Yeonjun broke the silence again, further elaborating his answer. “Which kind of bread do you like the most?”</p><p>“I like them all,” Soobin admitted, after a millisecond of thought. “What about you?”</p><p>A laugh escaped Yeonjun’s mouth, who was taken aback by Soobin’s sudden question. His lips formed a small pout as he thought of an answer, and Soobin couldn’t help but smile.</p><p>Yeonjun’s face oddly resembled a duckling.</p><p>“Thank you, although I’m not really sure if this was a compliment,” Yeonjun suddenly said, a teasing smile at the corner of his lips as his eyes formed two crescents, while Soobin’s face gradually became warmer and warmer at each passing second.</p><p>“I’m so sorry,” Soobin said in a heartbeat, eyes wide, and a bit ashamed. He hadn’t realized he had spoken out loud. Comically, his throat suddenly felt dryer than that one Winter when he had caught the worst cold of his whole life and almost died. If he thought about it, Soobin’s life was way too often on the line. Which probably was because he was being overdramatic, or because he had survived an accident he didn’t even know about and was living like a protagonist of a Final Destination movie, always being chased by death until it caught him for good. But Soobin would never acknowledge those possibilities for the simple fact that they were both his biggest nightmares.</p><p>So, he swallowed the saliva he didn’t have, and continued.</p><p>“I didn’t mean it in a bad way. Even if, now that I think about it, there technically isn’t a good way to say it. I’m truly sorry. I think ducks are really cute.”</p><p>“So, you think I’m cute,” Yeonjun nodded slowly, eyes squinting as he stared deeply into Soobin’s eyes, trying to intimidate the poor boy. It worked a little too well than Yeonjun had expected, watching as Soobin slowly backed away. “Are you only being nice so I can give you free food?”</p><p>Soobin blinked, opening and closing his mouth like the goldfish he used to have before it died that one Summer when his parents had the good idea to go on a one week trip on the seaside, even if Soobin had told them thousands of times already that he couldn’t swim and that he hated sunbathing because his skin easily got burnt. Not only had he come back with peeling red patches all over the body, the worst headache of his life, and another traumatic swimming experience, but he also came back to the smell of decomposition inside his room and to the sight of his little goldfish – that he had called Pluto because she had silvery-gold scales with dark brown spots and because she was so tiny she could fit into Soobin’s palms – floating on her back without moving.</p><p>Soobin blinked again.</p><p>“You can do that?” He asked, his prior mishap long forgotten. (Soobin was a sucker for good deals.)</p><p>“Depends,” Yeonjun paused, pretending to think deeply while caressing his chin with two fingers. “Why would I give <em>you</em> free food?”</p><p>“Uh,” Soobin started, wishing he had a smart mouth or witty words to throw at the other instead of silence. To be fair, thinking of something intelligent while facing the prettiest boy on Earth wasn’t an easy task; even less considering Soobin was terrible at multitasking.</p><p>(Even if at this point, Soobin considered he was terrible at pretty much <em>everything</em>.)</p><p>“Because today is my birthday?” He tried not-so-confidently, watching Yeonjun’s eyebrows raise in surprise. "Okay, I lied, it's not. Please spare me. I didn't practice for this conversation."</p><p>A silence followed. And suddenly, Yeonjun burst out laughing.</p><p>"You're funny. I like that."</p><p>
  <em>please i just want to eat bread </em>
</p><p>“So,” Yeonjun exclaimed, motioning to the different sorts of bread in front of him. Cream puffs, chocolate chip bread, croissants, jam-filled bread, French toast; a heaven kept in a refrigerated display showcase. “Which one of these bad girls do you want to take home with you?”</p><p>“Which ones do you recommend?” Soobin asked again, careful with his words to avoid embarrassment, even though there was probably no use in trying so hard as Yeonjun seemed to get amused by everything he said.</p><p>“Cream puffs and chocolate chip bread are my specialty.” Yeonjun said proudly.</p><p>“Is that so?” Soobin asked in surprise. Yeonjun didn’t look much like a pastry chef. He looked closer to the cute passer-by that gets recruited in the streets to make the sales skyrocket. But considering how the bakery was called Juni’s, it only made sense that Yeonjun wasn’t just a cute passer-by that had been recruited.</p><p>“I’ll take five cream puffs and one loaf of chocolate chip bread then, please.”</p><p>“Oh? I didn’t expect you to choose those so easily. Now I feel a bit pressured.” Yeonjun chuckled a little, breaking their contact as he opened the showcase to take out the pastries. It was surprising to see Yeonjun get flustered, the tip of his ears increasingly reddening as he avoided Soobin’s gaze. Based on their first exchanges, Yeonjun had seemed bold and confident. A shameless flirt. Everything Soobin feared but aspired to be. He seemed to be the upgraded version of Soobin that the latter kept daydreaming about; the one who wouldn’t have thought ten times before speaking in fear of making a fool of himself.</p><p>Turns out Yeonjun wasn’t that shameless.</p><p>Which was great. In this world made of even numbers, maybe Soobin wasn’t as odd as he had believed all along.</p><p>“Juni’s is the most popular bakery in town, I don’t think you have to worry about whether I will like them or not.”</p><p>“Stop, you’re being way too nice.” Yeonjun shook his head shyly. “You really do want that discount, uh?”</p><p>Soobin stared at him without answering. It wasn’t quite just about the discount, to be fair.</p><p>“Don’t worry I’m just teasing you.” Yeonjun added, winking mischievously. (It looked closer to a blink, but Soobin wasn’t going to mention that out loud this time.) “Okay so, five cream puffs and a loaf of bread with a little discount into the bargain?”</p><p>“Wait really? I thought you were joking.”</p><p>“You deserve it for making me laugh this early in the morning.” Yeonjun smiled sincerely, carefully placing Soobin’s order in a paper bag. Soobin took this mere second of inattention to look at him, noticing his dark blue hair and how well it complemented his tan skin tone, noticing his sharp eyes and pouty lips that had nothing to do together and yet looked just right on him, and noticing how tiny he looked in front of him with his smaller figure, even though their height difference wasn’t bigger than a couple centimeters.</p><p>“It will be ₩7,000, please.”</p><p>Handing Yeonjun the money and grabbing the paper bag from his grip, Soobin also noticed how small Yeonjun’s hands were compared to his, swallowing down the sudden thought of pressing his palm against the blue haired boy’s to compare their hand size.</p><p>“I’m glad to have entertained you,” Soobin smiled, then added jokingly, “I’ll see you tomorrow morning, then.”</p><p>Yeonjun laughed even harder this time.</p><p>“You can’t just come back every morning to get discounts, sir.”</p><p>“Yes, I know that.” Soobin acknowledged with unprecedented confidence, as Yeonjun tilted his head to the side a little in confusion.<em> I have a better reason to come back</em>, he thought, mentally slapping himself at the absurdity of it. (He deserved way more credit for not saying three fourths of his thoughts out loud.) “Thank you for the discount. Have a nice day, Yeonjun-ssi.”</p><p>“Thank you, I wish you a nice day as well, sir.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>+</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>While eating a cream puff on his way home, Soobin found a second valid reason to come back the next day.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>+</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>“You did what?” Beomgyu exclaimed.</p><p>Soobin buried his face in his pillow.</p><p>“Not that I want to agree with him or anything, but yeah, what the fuck?” Hyunjin added in a calmer voice, even though Soobin heard the undertones of surprise and bewilderment in his words.</p><p>“I dip my fries in ice cream <em>once</em>, and suddenly you don’t want to agree with me anymore.” Beomgyu huffed, flipping the pages of his notebook rather dramatically. Soobin couldn’t see the blonde’s face, but he guessed his mouth was shaped into that one pout he always did whenever he was sulking. He could have peaked for confirmation but moving wasn’t one of his options at that moment. Staying immobile made him feel less visible. Which was exactly what he was aiming for. “That’s not fair. You still agree with Hueningkai even though he likes mint choco ice cream.”</p><p>“Maybe because I <em>like</em> mint choco ice cream? Also, Hueningkai is six years old, Beomgyu. Why would you want me to bully a child?” Hyunjin scolded Beomgyu with an accusing tone. Although Hyunjin was a year older than Beomgyu, he often found himself reprimanding the younger like a parent reprimanded their kid. After all, for a nineteen-year-old, Beomgyu was quite the childish type.</p><p>“He deserves it more than I do.” Beomgyu muttered lowly. Soobin almost wanted to laugh at that, but he needed to stay in character. He liked to pretend his life was a drama in which he played the protagonist; this moment right now being the turning point where he had to make a crucial choice, deciding to reach out to his friends in hope that they would give him solid advice on what to do.</p><p>(Soobin didn’t like this type of scenes in drama, to be quite honest. Even less when said friends were stealing the spotlight from him to bicker with each other.)</p><p>“You’re ridiculous.” Hyunjin laughed dryly. “That’s why Hueningkai doesn’t like you.”</p><p>“At least Hueningkai remembers my name, <em>Heejin hyung</em>.”</p><p>“Can you both listen to me?” Soobin cried, moving his head to the side so he could speak with more ease.</p><p>It was enough to make both of his friends shut up, although Soobin could still see Beomgyu from the corner of his eye, sticking out his tongue at Hyunjin childishly before focusing his attention on Soobin completely.</p><p>“Okay,” Beomgyu exhaled, closing his notebook swiftly. “So, you flirted with the cute bakery guy.”</p><p>Soobin hesitated for a second. “Kind of.”</p><p>“And he flirted back.” Hyunjin followed.</p><p>“Hm,” Soobin hesitated again. He had never been good at interpreting people’s words and actions. “I’m not sure.”</p><p>“He did,” Beomgyu guaranteed, convinced by his own unfounded conclusions. “He teased you, a complete stranger, and a customer. Nobody in their right mind would tease their customers.”</p><p>“Unless they’re cute.” Hyunjin added in all seriousness, eyes growing wide as he shook his index finger back and forth, looking like he had connected dots between the two least obvious things in the world. Beomgyu gasped in amazement, high fiving him excitedly as Soobin let out a long desperate sigh.</p><p>His friends were ridiculous.</p><p>“He could’ve just been nice,” Soobin said, rolling on his back to stare at the ceiling. If he stared long enough, he could imagine a dark hole swallowing him whole and sending him in a parallel universe where he was extroverted, eloquent and witty. Even if protagonists like this weren’t as fun.</p><p>So much for a drama that didn’t even exist.</p><p>“You could try to become friends with him first, then.” Beomgyu suggested, even though his logic made no sense. Being nice was a requirement for Yeonjun to do his job, not necessarily an invitation to become friends. If then, Soobin would have had better friends to receive advice from than Beomgyu and Hyunjin.</p><p>“Go back tomorrow and ask for his number.” Beomgyu added, with big twinkling eyes. On his right side, Hyunjin nodded instinctively.</p><p>“I can’t. He’s going to think I’m obsessed with him.”</p><p>“Not if you bring someone with you.”</p><p>Beomgyu had a point. Still, Soobin whined and buried his face in his pillow again.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>+</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Soobin came back the next day with his little brother Hueningkai.</p><p>Hueningkai was only six, a little smaller than four feet next to Soobin who was almost twice his height. As it wasn’t easy for them to hold hands comfortably, Soobin decided to carry him on his back. It was probably better like this anyway; being 8:00 am only, it was still early for the youngest whose eyes were droopy and puffed up from waking up a while ago. Plus, Hueningkai was very shy. The type of shy that didn’t even dare say hello to strangers, the type of shy that didn’t want to show his face, the type of shy to cry when overwhelmed.</p><p>Hiding behind Soobin’s broad shoulders like that, Hueningkai was safe.</p><p>(And with his brother’s arms embracing him, Soobin felt so much more courageous than the day before.)</p><p>“Hi there,” Yeonjun waved with a fond smile on his face as he noticed Hueningkai’s little head behind Soobin’s shoulders. Soobin smiled back, fascinated. Yeonjun and his bright blue hair, his sharp eyes and muscular figure, looked everything but how Soobin had remembered him: intimidating. Today, Yeonjun looked warm and soft. The embodiment of a blanket. (Soobin wouldn’t mind wrapping himself in a blanket like this.)</p><p>“Who is this charming little guy?”</p><p>“This is my little brother Hueningkai. I’m taking him to his piano lesson.” Soobin said, fondness filling his heart as he felt Hueningkai’s grip tighten around his neck. He felt sorry for putting his brother in such an uncomfortable situation, but his intuition had told him that this time would be different from the other ones.</p><p>“Nice to meet you Hueningkai, my name is Yeonjun.” Yeonjun said in a calm voice. Although Hueningkai didn’t answer, Soobin felt his body relax a little. “What do you want to eat today?”</p><p>“Can we get egg tarts please, Soobinie hyung?” Hueningkai asked in a small voice, as if he was telling his older brother a secret. The older nodded with a soft ‘of course’, heart swooning at the younger’s soft tone. (Soobin felt even more tender with how Yeonjun pretended he hadn’t heard the younger boy’s question, trying so hard to suppress the big smile on his face. It was understandable. Nobody could resist Hueningkai’s adorable personality.)</p><p>“We will get five egg tarts, please. Is it okay if we eat in?”</p><p>“Of course, it will be ₩5,000. You can sit wherever you want.” Yeonjun answered warmly, voice honey-like and melodious. As he placed the five egg tarts on a food tray after taking the money from Soobin’s hand, the latter took a second to think about Yeonjun’s voice, the way it sounded nasal but not really, the way it reminded him of Fall, of the color ginger, a brown-ish orange that Soobin usually found unappealing, but for some reason looked like his favorite color at this exact moment.</p><p>Maybe Soobin was starting to be <em>a little</em> whipped for the blue haired boy. But just a little.</p><p>Soobin thanked Yeonjun before walking to the table right next to the window. The window was Hueningkai’s favorite spot, because he could often see animals wandering in the streets, especially cats. (Hueningkai loved cats.)</p><p>Soobin and Hueningkai both sat in silence while the younger ate his egg tarts. It was fascinating how Hueningkai was talkative at home, laughing loudly and playing a lot, but once outside of their house, he became calm and quiet. In a way, Soobin understood him as he was a bit similar although a lot less energetic at home. Soobin liked peace and quiet as well as spending time alone. He could count his friends on his fingers, and it was perfect this way, having always had a hard time making new friends and staying in contact with his current ones frequently.</p><p>Hueningkai didn’t have many friends at school either. In fact, he only had one. It was their neighbor Taehyun, with whom he had been sharing the same classes since Kindergarten. Taehyun wasn’t the most talkative, but he did have a more extroverted personality, interacting easily with grown-ups and other kids as well as being well-spoken and quite mature for his young age. Taehyun understood Hueningkai’s shyer personality immediately and never forced him to do anything that could make him uncomfortable, which ironically pushed Hueningkai to open himself more, little by little.</p><p>Soobin considered that Taehyun was pretty much Hueningkai’s guardian angel.</p><p>“Look,” Hueningkai pointed outside the window excitedly, while munching on his third egg tart. Soobin quickly got out of his reverie to stare outside the window, where a little cat was sitting. It had black fur, teal-colored eyes, long whiskers, and the tiniest <em>tiniest</em> body. <em>Probably a few months old</em>, Soobin thought. Hueningkai cooed, stars twinkling in his eyes. “I want a cat like this.”</p><p>“A black cat?” Soobin asked, surprised. Hueningkai feared many things: ghosts, monsters, heights, rollercoasters, bugs, people he didn’t know, and many more. Yet, he wanted a black cat, the symbol of bad luck.</p><p>“Taehyunie told me black cats bring you good luck when you are nice to them.” The younger said, pressing his palm against the window to get the cat’s attention. Soobin wasn’t surprised. His neighbor probably understood that the only way for Hueningkai to not get scared of something was by teaching him it was harmless.</p><p>(Most six-year-olds didn’t understand this until a few years later. But Taehyun was Taehyun. It just made sense that he already did.)</p><p>“Oh! It’s my cat,” Yeonjun exclaimed, startling the two brothers. “Her name is Dora.”</p><p>“Dora?” Hueningkai repeated without getting his eyes off her, while Soobin felt his heart skip a beat. The latter would have never imagined his little brother engage a conversation with a stranger so fast. It usually took him a little longer to gain someone’s trust. Like, four or five weeks, at least.</p><p>“Yes,” Yeonjun acquiesced, the hint of a smile showing through the tone of his voice. “You can say she’s quite an explorer.”</p><p>His smile grew even bigger as Hueningkai giggled, soft, warm, and happy. It wasn’t long until Soobin started smiling as well, full teethed with two dimples on each side of his cheeks. It felt a little surreal, almost magical. In his six years of being alive, Hueningkai had never laughed so freely with a stranger.</p><p>Maybe Yeonjun was an angel. Just like Taehyun.</p><p>Or maybe all of this was just a pure coincidence.</p><p>(Soobin secretly hoped for the first option to be true. He kind of liked the idea of having Yeonjun as his guardian angel, to be honest.)</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>+</p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong>yeonjun:</strong><br/>
<em>hi soobin it’s yeonjun from juni’s</em> <em><br/>
your little brother gave me your number so I could send him pics of dora hehe he is so cute<br/>
</em><strong>[7:29 p.m]</strong><em><strong><br/>
<br/>
</strong></em><em>[attachment: 1 image]<br/>
</em><em>isn’t she the cutest??<br/>
</em><em>thank you for visiting again today btw!</em><em><br/>
</em> <strong>[7:32 p.m]</strong></p><p> </p><p><strong>soobin:</strong><br/>
<em>oh hi yeonjun-ssi!<br/>
i didn’t know hueningkai gave you my number haha<br/>
im so surprised he usually doesn’t like talking to people he doesn’t know</em> <em><br/>
he must like you a lot already!!<br/>
and yes!!!!! dora is adorable<br/>
</em> <strong> [7:42 p.m]</strong></p><p><br/>
<strong>yeonjun:</strong><br/>
<em>ahh im so relieved</em> <em><br/>
i was so scared of making him uncomfortable<br/>
i don’t have siblings so I don’t really know how to act around kids :(<br/>
(u can call me hyung btw lol)<br/>
</em> <strong>[7:48 p.m]</strong></p><p> </p><p><strong>soobin:</strong><br/>
<em>how do u even know if i’m younger than you</em> <em><br/>
and wdym you don’t know how to deal with kids you’re better at it than i am<br/>
you’re literally good at everything<br/>
seriously how does it feel to be god’s favorite<br/>
</em> <strong>[7:56 p.m]</strong></p><p> </p><p><strong>yeonjun:</strong><br/>
<em>hueningkai told me!!</em> <em><br/>
and being god’s favorite is pretty nice<br/>
shouldn’t you already know though?<br/>
u cant fool me soobin i recognize an angel when i see one<br/>
</em> <strong>[8:05 p.m]</strong></p><p> </p><p><strong>soobin:</strong> <em><br/>
shut up<br/>
</em><strong>[8:08 p.m]<br/>
</strong><em><br/>
hyung<br/>
</em><strong>[8:09 p.m]</strong></p><p>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>+</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>“You are so frustrating, you know that?” Soobin rolled his eyes. Beomgyu’s voice sounded meaner on speaker, reverberating against the walls of Soobin’s bedroom, and echoing in his head repeatedly. It felt comforting in a way, the accusing tone in his voice reminding Soobin of his own conscience, constantly pointing at his every mistake and embarrassing moment.</p><p>“I know.” He answered defeated while lying on his back, body stretched out on his bed in the shape of a starfish. He had been peacefully imagining calm waves rock him to the rhythm of the current, until Beomgyu came in like a storm to disrupt his meditation session.</p><p>Soobin shouldn’t have answered in the first place. Beomgyu had been single his entire life, he didn’t know any better than Soobin when it came to romance.</p><p>“Shut up hyung?” Beomgyu read, baffled. It did sound more embarrassing out loud, but no matter how deep Soobin thought about it, there wasn’t any less-embarrassing-and-wittier answer he could’ve possibly given instead. <em>Go flirt with Hyunjin then, we’ll see if it’s still easy to you</em>, Soobin thought bitterly. After years of pining, Beomgyu was still stuck in the I-bicker-with-you-all-the-time-because-I-am-too-scared-to-tell-you-how-I-feel phase. He had no right to give his two cents about Soobin’s attempts at making a move. “Seriously Soobin hyung, you couldn’t be more creative?”</p><p>“I know.” Soobin repeated nonchalantly, hoping Beomgyu would take the hint. His only wish now was to knock out and wake up three months later when Yeonjun would have forgotten about him.</p><p>“You should text him again.”</p><p>“I know,” Soobin automatically said, but stopped himself immediately, horror running through his veins as he processed the words he had just agreed to. “I mean, no. I can’t. I’m so embarrassed.”</p><p>Beomgyu sighed.</p><p>“You’re just trying to find yourself excuses.”</p><p>“It’s not as easy as it seems, Gyu.” Soobin retorted, mindlessly tracing the edges of his ceiling repeatedly. A vicious circle. Quite fitting to sum up his miserable life. “Please leave me and my shame alone.”</p><p>“Fine,” Beomgyu huffed. “Don’t think about it too much, alright?”</p><p>Soobin laughed a little.</p><p>“<em>Bet</em>.”</p><p>              </p><p> </p><p>+ </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong>soobin:</strong><br/>
<em>i wasn’t doing my angel duties so they revoked my card a while ago</em> <em><br/>
i only got to keep my pretty looks<br/>
don’t let them deceive you tho lol<br/>
</em> <strong>[12:02 a.m]</strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>+</p><p> </p><p>  </p><p><strong>yeonjun:</strong><br/>
<em>i’ll let them deceive me anytime</em> <em><br/>
</em> <strong>[1:19 a.m.]</strong></p><p>
  <em>sorry its late idk what im saying <br/>
please don’t pay attention to my text above haha</em><br/>
<em>gn soobin!!</em><br/>
<strong>[1:27 a.m.]</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <strong>+</strong>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>A few hours later, Soobin read Yeonjun’s texts, screamed into his pillow, then made the decision to never think before speaking again.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>cc/twt: @pixietyun</p></blockquote></div></div>
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